MONOLITH

Above - A standing stone near Oban showing the narrow profile which is often found in these monoliths.

Right - A photo of postcard from author's collection showing the Lochawe memorial. It can be seen quite clearly here that as well as narrowing the front profile of the soldier his pose also ensures an unbroken continuation of the slanting line of the memorial from the base of the cairn rising up through the rifle and his right upper arm to finally terminate at the peak of the soldier's sloping bonnet. This creates a composition reminiscent of a primitive spearhead.

As a skilled mason Carrick had a deep feeling and understanding for stone. Among his business papers in Edinburgh is a letter to the Ardrishaig war memorial committee is a letter praising the quality of the Doddington Sandstone he used for his statues. He also explained how he preferred a stone quarried near the famous Craiglach Quarry (the Craiglash Quarry near Torphins?) for the tablets bearing the names of the dead as this was an exceptionally durable stone mainly used for glass grinding (see letter, Manuscript Collection 22 dated 17/05/1921).